Review: ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ Has Just Enough of its Old Magic to Delight Fans

It’s difficult to overstate the deep cultural impact of The Matrix. It redefined the sci-fi film genre and shaped an entire generation of fans, it raked in $460 million worldwide, garnered multiple Oscars, and sent the already healthy careers of Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne (the latter being somehow recast in the new one) into true stardom. I’m a fan myself, loving the first two films and believing Reeves’ Neo to be one of my favorite sci-fi heroes of all time, and I was so happy when the Wachowskis announced the series’ fourth installment: The Matrix Resurrections. It’s not a perfect film, but there’s enough of the old magic to delight longtime fans. The stars still radiate chemistry, there are plenty of cameos and sly nods to the franchise throughout, and the familiar themes have been subtly updated to make them more relevant than ever.

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Review: ‘King Richard’ Is an Inspiring Feminist Story

“The most strongest, the most powerful, the most dangerous creature on this whole Earth is a woman who knows how to think. Ain’t nothing she can’t do” — Richard Williams (King Richard)

King Richard, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, tells the story of how a father who came from nothing turned his daughters into world-renowned tennis players Venus and Serena Williams. This sports biopic demonstrates the importance of determination and how the increase in female empowerment can change the world. 

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Review: ‘No Sudden Move’ Takes You for a Ride

Before the main caper in No Sudden Move even begins, we’re given narrative elements that imply a crime film of truly epic proportions: two rival gangs, a desperate gangster looking for a way out, a shady job from a mysterious benefactor, and a codebook full of secrets that threatens to bring the criminal underworld of Detroit crumbling down. The movie’s pace matches these expectations as Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and Ronald Russo (Benicio del Toro) race against the clock, unraveling a conspiracy while trying to net an even bigger score. By the film’s end,however, once all is revealed, their score is cast in a different, less renegaded light, forcing these criminals—as well as the audience—to reevaluate their expectations.

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Review: ‘In the Heights’ is a Nice Musical Tale of Hopes and Dreams

Broadway musical blockbusters are always a hit-or-miss despite their catchy songs, but In the Heights is definitely a hit to me. The play version of In the Heights is mostly famous for being the musical that helped catapult Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda into the public sphere. And the 2021 film version, helmed by Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu, is a triumphant adaptation, confidently reworking the stage show into a gorgeous, vibrant film that captures both the bigness of musical theater and the intimacy that comes with telling a story about a specific culture. In its joyous excess, In the Heights makes a case for adapting Broadway musicals into Hollywood cinema. The musical numbers are freed from the boundaries of the stage, and they don’t waste that freedom. The dance routines feel like gorgeous action-movie set-pieces, thanks to Alice Brooks’ cinematography, and the cast is a constellation of Latinx legends and up-and-comers alike. Every summer should have a movie like this one.

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Review: ‘Mortal Kombat’ is Ultimately a Win for the Audience

There are few certainties in life: death, taxes, and the fact that live action movies based on video games are terrible. Aside from Detective Pikachu, the Sonic movie, and the original Mortal Kombat movie, that is. Paul W.S. Anderson’s biggest masterpiece, based on the highly successful fighting game, might not be the best of the lot, but since its release in 1995, it has set the bar pretty high for adaptations that embrace and build upon its source material due to how silly and self-aware it was, like the game. Continue reading “Review: ‘Mortal Kombat’ is Ultimately a Win for the Audience” →

Review: Like Its Namesake, ‘An American Pickle’ is Just Fine

An American Pickle is a film about two lookalike relatives who are separated by a hundred years andcan’t resolve their generational differences. This seems like a fun time, right? These kinds of films – ones where a person from the past finds themselves adrift in modern society like Encino Man and The Visitors – are usually great. An American Pickle is unfortunately not. Adapted by Simon Rich, the creator of TBS’s comedy anthology Miracle Workers, from his own short story “Sell Out,” and directed by Brandon Trost, who is a rather good cinematographer, An American Pickle has some fine moments tucked into its uneven structure, even if its conflicted tone holds it back from true greatness.

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